Disclaimer- The Mighty Ducks belong to Disney, not to me. Sorry about that.
This fic is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for
violence.

Hostile Takeoverby: Ellen Brand

It was another typical evening in Anaheim. Warm, slightly smoggy,
and full
of the sounds of laser fire. The Mighty Ducks were once again embroiled in
battle with their enemies, the Saurians. Tonight, the object of their
dispute was an object that had fallen to Earth not half an hour ago, in a
vacant lot towards the outskirts of town.

"I'm gonna stomp you ducks flat!" Siege growled. The large orange
lizard
launched a volley of blaster shots in the general direction of the six
heroes.

"Check," Nosedive snorted, ducking behind a pile of bricks. "All I
need
now is one 'miserable mallards,' and I've got a Bingo."

Sharing Dive's cover was Duke L'Orange, who regarded his younger
teammate
with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "I wanna see your card when
we get back to the Pond, junior."

"Some people just can't lose gracefully," Dive replied, popping up
just
long enough to launch a puck barrage at his attackers.

Mallory McMallard, on Duke's other side, pulled her head down as one
of
Wraith's fireballs roared over the barricade. "Case in point," the redhead
replied, indicating the Saurian sorcerer.

The Chameleon, Dragaunus' shape-shifting henchman, suddenly
shimmered, his
features morphing into an accurate, if somewhat green, likeness of Danny
Glover. "I'm getting too old for this-" His impression was cut off as one
of Wildwing's pucks forced him to duck.

"We're gonna be running low on pucks soon," the leader of the Ducks
mused.
"We've got to end this as soon as possible." Then he blinked. "Tanya,
where's Grin?"

"Well, uh, I think he's, y'know- ending this." The blonde pointed to
a
nearby wall, which had once been part of a building. In the half-light cast
by the street lamps, Wildwing could see that the wall was beginning to sway.

"Ducks! Pull back!" he yelled, doing so himself. The others
followed,
Nosedive and Mallory laying down a barrage of cover fire as they did so.

"Hah!" Siege crowed in triumph. "We've got 'em on the run."

Wraith was less optimistic. "I wonder. Chameleon, how many ducks do
you
see retreating?"

Chameleon immediately began to count- on his fingers. "Uh- one, two,
three, four, five. Five, Wraith." The three Saurians looked at each other,
then upwards as the sounds of tortured masonry became more apparent.

"Uh-oh," they chorused. At that moment, the wall fell.

Using his Mask, Wildwing surveyed the pile of rubble, shaking his
head.
"Ouch," he remarked. "I hope Dragaunus has stocked up on aspirin."

"They SURVIVED that?" Mallory asked, incredulous. Wildwing nodded.

"I'm afraid so. But on the bright side, they probably won't walk for
a week."

At that moment, the last member of the team joined them, dusting off
his
hands. "Without a strong foundation, the loftiest edifice will fall," Grin
remarked calmly. The other Ducks regarded him for a long moment, then shook
their heads. No one really understood Grin, but at seven-foot plus, no one
was going to argue with him, either.

"I say we see just what has old Lizard-Lips so riled up," Duke
suggested.

"Good idea, Duke," Wildwing agreed. The Ducks made their way to the
edge
of the crater that the falling object had dug.

Kneeling beside the hole, Tanya pressed a button on the Omnitool she
wore
at her wrist. A probe came out and bathed the object, a basketball sized,
roughly spherical object of some clear material, in a blue light.

"Well, it's a crystal of some kind, looks like it has
energy-conducting
properties," Tanya reported.

"Why would Dragaunus want it?" asked Wildwing, leaning closer.

"Darned if I know. I'd have to perform more detailed analysis on it,
back
at my lab."

Wildwing straightened up. "Then let's get it there. Grin, can you
move
that thing?"

The larger duck nodded. "Certainly."

"Then do it- but wear gloves. We don't want to take any chances."

* * *

The next morning, Tanya was in her lab bright and early, ready to
start
her analysis of the crystal they had obtained the night before. As she
approached the storage cabinet, she pulled on a pair of thin work gloves.
Wildwing had insisted that she wear them during her analysis, and she
wasn't about to go against him, no matter how silly she felt. _Wildwing can
be so paranoid,_ she thought to herself. Still, she had to admit that his
paranoia had saved their tails on more than one occasion.

Setting the crystal on her worktable, Tanya had to laugh. She had a
number
of years on Wildwing, but somehow he always managed to make her feel like a
younger sister. _Probably all the practice he gets with Nosedive,_ she
mused.

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she turned her attention to
the
crystal before her. She was looking forward to finding out just what made
this hunk of rock so special. Tanya loved puzzles; that was one of the
reasons she'd fallen in love with machines. Well, that and a love of
building things. But a complicated piece of equipment was one of the best
puzzles a girl could ask for, and she loved figuring them out and putting
them together. No piece of clear rock was going to hide its secrets from
her.

Almost as if it had sensed her thought, the crystal suddenly began
to
shine with a strange white light. Tanya raised her hands to shield her
vision, but not in time. A burst of brilliant radiance filled the room, and
when it cleared, Tanya was standing quite calmly in the center of the room.
She seemed unchanged- except that her eyes were now completely black. An
evil grin crossed her face, and she began to laugh.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning, and Nosedive was primed to experience it
in
his usual fashion- spending the day with his friends at Captain Comics.
Some judicious pleading had convinced Wildwing to let his younger brother
go, mainly to keep him from driving all the Ducks insane. But Wildwing
wasn't about to let his younger brother get out of the Pond completely
unscathed.

"Now remember, keep an eye on your communicator," Wildwing
instructed, for
what had to be the third time, as the two of them stood outside the Pond.
"I want to be able to get in touch with you in a hurry, in case Dragaunus
tries something. He wanted that crystal pretty badly last night, and giving
up on stuff is NOT his style."

Dive grimaced. "Yeah, yeah, I know already. Lighten up, bro. No WAY
Draggy
is getting into the Pond, not after last time."

"Yeah, well, I've learned never to say never, all right? You be
careful,
baby bro. And have a good time."

"A whole day away from you? You know it!" Dive ducked his brother's
swat
and headed off towards the mall, which was within walking distance of the
Pond. Wildwing watched him go, trying to ignore the feeling of dread
creeping up his spine. Not even Dive could get himself into trouble at a
comic book shop, right?

The tone of his communicator startled Wildwing out of his thoughts.
Looking down, he saw a blank screen, but it was Tanya's voice that
addressed him.

"I've got the crystal analyzed," the scientist reported.
"Unfortunately,
it seems to, uh, be interfering with our com signals- some type of
low-level radiation, I think. If you guys'll come down here, I can, y'know,
brief you on what this thing does."

Wildwing nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him. "I'll be
down
in a minute, Tanya. Wildwing out." Closing the signal, he headed back into
the Pond.

* * *

Wildwing arrived at Tanya's lab not long after the rest of the
Ducks.
Nosedive wasn't there, he noticed; apparently his brother hadn't thought
Tanya's discovery important enough to return for. Wildwing shrugged. It
didn't really matter. If they needed Dive, he could always call him. No way
Dive would ignore a call from his older brother, not if he wanted to keep
his head.

"So what does this hunk of junk do?" Duke asked, addressing Tanya's
back.
The younger woman hadn't turned around as her teammates entered the room,
instead fussing with the crystal.

"Oh, I think you'll really like it," she snickered. Wildwing
frowned.
Tanya barely sounded like herself- her voice was cold and emotionless. Then
she turned around, and the other four ducks gasped. Her eyes were pure,
featureless black.

Mallory startled, reaching instinctively for the puck launcher she
carried. "What in the name of Drake Ducaine?" she gasped.

Tanya smirked. "Not even close," she snapped, laying her hands on
the
crystal. Brilliant light shot out, blinding all of them.

When Wildwing's vision returned, he found himself surrounded by his
teammates. "Guys?" he asked, backing slowly towards the door. All four of
his friends had pure black eyes now, and they were advancing on him.

"He seems to be immune," Grin observed coldly.

"Probably because he wears the Mask," Mallory replied, her tone a
frightening singsong. "He can't see the light the way we do.

Duke smiled nastily, without the dry humor the expression usually
contained. "Then we'll just have to show him, won't we?"

Knowing he couldn't fight all four of his teammates, Wildwing tried
to
make a break for the door, but Grin was faster. The larger duck pinned his
leader's arms behind him, holding him fast. Stepping closer, Duke reached
up and pulled the Mask off Wildwing's face. Tanya touched the crystal, and
the world was seared away in a flash of light.

* * *

Phil Palmfeather, manager for the Mighty Ducks, was having a good
day.
He'd booked his hockey-playing heroes for several publicity stunts, and now
all he had to do was talk Wildwing into playing along with them. That was
easier said than done, but Phil had confidence that he could get at least
half of them past the team captain. Probably. If he was in a good mood.

He strode from his office to the front entrance of the Pond, already
plotting several angles of attack. _Listen to me,_ he thought wryly. _A
year managing a commando team from another planet and I'm even beginning to
TALK in military metaphors._ Shrugging, Phil put that behind him. Now, he
could probably get Wildwing to agree to an autograph signing out of hand...
especially since it was for charity. Like all the Ducks, Wildwing had a
soft spot for kids. But the photo shoots- those might be a little harder.

Seeing Wildwing heading out the front door, Phil hurried to catch up
with
him. This just might work out after all. Then Phil caught a glimpse of
Wildwing's face, and all his thoughts of publicity stunts went right out
the window.

First and foremost, Wildwing wasn't wearing the Mask. In all the
time that
Phil had known the younger man, Wildwing had NEVER had the Mask of Ducaine
off for longer than absolutely necessary. He even wore it when off-duty- or
as close to off-duty as Wildwing ever got. It was the symbol of his team
leadership and the Ducks' most powerful weapon in the fight against
Dragaunus. Like most of the fans and even the other Ducks, Phil had come to
consider the Mask almost permanently bonded to Wildwing's face.

Beyond that, however, Wildwing was wearing sunglasses, on a day that
most
Anaheim natives would consider only mildly bright. One thing the Ducks
weren't was light sensitive. And even if he needed to protect his eyes, why
wouldn't Wildwing just wear the Mask?

Last of all, though, was the aura of utter cold that Wildwing
radiated. It
was something Phil had only seen a few times before, and only once directed
at him. It had been just after one of his publicity stunts had landed
Nosedive in the infirmary with a concussion. Generally, when Wildwing got
like this, someone was an inch away from dying.

"Hey, Wildwing, booby, what's up?" Phil called, trying to sound
nonchalant. A year with the Ducks had honed his trouble radar to a fine
pitch, and alarm bells were going off in his skull.

"Phil," Wildwing greeted him coolly. "Have you seen Nosedive
recently?"

The manager frowned. "I thought he said he was going comic-shop
hopping,"
he replied easily. "What's the matter?"

"Uh- no. Our coms are down- we think it has something to do with
that
crystal Tanya discovered. Now if you'll excuse me." Wildwing strode across
the street, heading for the Anaheim Mall. Phil watched him go, chewing his
lip. Coming to a decision, he turned on his heel and headed for his car. He
had a feeling that he'd better find Nosedive before Wildwing did, or there
was going to be major trouble.

* * *

The bell above the door to Captain Comics jingled, causing Mook and
Thrash, the two teenage clerks, to look up. Mook's jaw dropped open as she
saw who had just come through the door. "Phil?" the purple-haired teen
asked incredulously. She knew the Ducks' manager, of course- Nosedive was
one of her best friends. But she had never expected to see the overweight
man enter the comic shop.

"I don't have time to talk," Phil replied, pushing his bangs out of
his
eyes. "Have you guys seen Nosedive around?"

"I thought the guys had the day off," Thrash replied, folding his
arms
across his chest.

"They do. Look, this is IMPORTANT!"

Mook and Thrash exchanged glances, then shrugged. "He was here, but
we
were doing inventory and couldn't talk. He went down to the arcade to wait
'til our shift was up," Mook replied. "Why?"

Phil shook his head. "I don't have time to explain. Has Wildwing
been by
here?"

"No way," Thrash replied. "I don't think we've seen him in here
since the
electricity monsters."

"Well, he'll be by soon," the manager replied. "When he gets here,
do NOT,
under any circumstances, tell him where Nosedive is. I think you'll see why
when he gets here. Trust me, it's safest for everybody. Do you understand?"

Mook snorted. "Not a bit. But we'll do like you say."

"Good." With that, Phil hurried out the door with a speed he usually
reserved for lawsuits, heading for the video arcade.

* * *

Nosedive was deep into a round of Cyber-Sleezoids, his favorite
video
game, when a hand fell on his shoulder. Not looking up from the screen, he
raised an eyebrow. "Gee, guys, I didn't know your shift at the comic shop
got over so fast."

"It's Phil, Dive," came the reply. Nosedive was so startled that he
crashed and burned, losing his final life.

"PHIL! Look what you did!" the young duck protested, whirling
around.

The brown-haired human did not look repentant. "Sorry. Look, we need
to
talk, but not here. This'll be the next place Wildwing looks for you after
Captain Comics, and I don't want to be here when he shows up."

Nosedive raised an eyebrow. "Look, I've hidden from Wildwing's
wrath, and
you've hidden from Wildwing's wrath, but this is the first time I've had
you suggest we do so together. What have we done that has him on the
warpath?"

"It's not like that, kid. Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Dive could see that Phil was actually nervous- no, he was _scared._
Wildwing could get upset with Phil occasionally, but he'd never hurt him.
Something was definitely up. Dropping his sarcastic demeanor, Dive nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

Nosedive looked out the window of Phil's car as the scenery of
downtown
Anaheim rolled past. "Are we headed anywhere in particular, Phil, or do you
just wanna run up the mileage?"

"We need to talk, kid. First off, is there any disease or something
that
makes you guys light sensitive? I can think of a few that do that to
humans, but is there anything for ducks?"

"Not that I know of. I was kind of sensitive for a while after
getting
sprung from the mines, but we're all beyond that. Why?"

Phil sighed. "Because I ran into Wildwing today, and he was wearing
sunglasses. Sunglasses, on a partly cloudy day! And he wasn't wearing the
Mask. It didn't get broken, did it?"

"No, he was wearing it when I left," Dive replied. Now he was
beginning to
get worried. "Phil, are you saying something's wrong with Wildwing?"

The human nodded, his expression troubled. "He seemed mad, Nosedive.
And
not mad like he gets at you or me, either. I mean ANGRY, like when he's
going up against Dragaunus- but it seemed like he was mad at you. And he
NEVER gets that way with you."

Dive grimaced. He'd have to admit that Phil was right. Wildwing had
chewed
him out numerous times over the years, and always for some stupid stunt
that truly deserved it. No matter how annoyed Wing got, though, Dive had
never seen him at the edge of violence, the way he was against Dragaunus.
That was one of the few constants Dive had in his life- that Wildwing would
never hurt him.

"I'm not sure," his manager sighed. "I only caught a quick glimpse-
but I
could swear that Wildwing's eyes were pure black. Gave me the creeps."

Dive let out a thin hiss. "It must be Dragaunus," he decided
finally. "And
if he's gotten a hold of Wild, he's almost certainly gotten the rest of the
Ducks." Straightening up, he came to a decision. "Phil, drop me at the
Pond. Around the back. I'm going in there and see if I can't get to the
bottom of this."

"By yourself?" Phil cried, even as he turned to head for the hockey
rink.
"Are you even armed?"

Dive reached behind himself and pulled a puck blaster from where it
had
been tucked at his waist, under his shirt. "Like the man says, don't leave
home without it. Apparently, Wildwing's paranoia is catching."

Phil sighed. "This is not going to go well. I just know it."

* * *

Picking his way through the sewers that led beneath the Pond, Dive
made a
face. It wasn't the most glamorous place for a secret entrance, but he
supposed that was the point. Dive knew he couldn't count on any help from
the other Ducks- he had to assume they were all under the control of
whatever had altered Wildwing. He couldn't see Duke and Grin letting Wing
out of their sight if they weren't.

So walking in the front door was out. He'd be dead or worse before
he knew
what hit him. That left this doorway, here in the sewers. Wildwing had come
through here once, way back when Dragaunus had taken over the Pond the
first time. Dive seriously doubted that this was a repeat of that
situation. They'd boosted their security through the stratosphere to keep
something like this from ever happening again. Whatever was going on,
though, it HAD to be located in their headquarters. He was the only one who
had left that day, and he was the only one not affected.

The problem with entering through this entrance, Dive thought to
himself,
was that the sensors logged the codes when anyone entered. It would be the
equivalent of holding up a neon sign saying, "Here I am! Come and kill me!"
Not particularly how Dive wanted this adventure to end up. He'd much rather
wind up the conquering hero, hailed by all... which was about as likely as
Dragaunus growing a heart. Ah, who was he kidding? He'd settle for getting
all his friends back in one piece- even Mallory, although she was always on
his case for something or other.

All of which was a moot point if he couldn't sneak into the Pond
without
announcing his presence. Luckily, when it came to breaking and entering,
Dive had been taught by the best, Duke L'Orange himself. _And heavens help
both of us if Wildwing ever finds THAT out,_ Dive mused. He could just
imagine his older brother's reaction. Duke's skills were no problem for
Wildwing- when it was Duke using them. Somehow, though, Dive doubted his
older brother's tolerance for such things extended to him.

Having the twin advantages of Duke's teachings and having seen
Tanya's
blueprints, Dive was able to fix the code lock so that it didn't inform
anyone where he was. That done, he slipped into the passageway like a ghost.

His first order of business, Dive decided, was to get back to his
room and
get his armor. Considering that he was going to spend the whole day
lounging around, he hadn't bothered to bring his recall, which meant that
he was going to have to fetch it manually. _You know, I am beginning to
understand Wildwing's paranoia,_ he thought to himself. He wasn't sure he'd
ever go ANYWHERE without his armor again. Without his armor, he couldn't
take so much as one hit from a puck launcher, which meant he'd have to be
even better than he thought he was. No way he wanted to take chances like
that any longer than necessary.

Lost in these thoughts, Nosedive almost walked directly into Tanya.
For a
second, the two simply stared at each other in shock, Dive nearly paralyzed
by the sight of Tanya's jet black eyes. _Sweet Mother of Ducks,_ the
teenager thought, horrified. _What has HAPPENED here?_

Dive recovered from his shock quickly, however. This was good,
because
Tanya was bringing her Omnitool to bear on him. Dive raised his hands in
the classic "surrender" position.

"I don't suppose we could talk this out?" he asked, with little real
hope.

"Surrender in the name of Lord Dragaunus," was her only reply.

Dive seemed to consider that. "No, I don't think so," he shot back.
Dropping to the floor, he rolled forward and fired his puck launcher, all
in one smooth motion. Tanya never had a chance. She dropped to the ground,
unconscious.

Moving to her side, Dive quickly checked her pulse, and breathed a
sigh of
relief when he found it throbbing strongly. "Now, to find you a nice place
to sleep this off," Dive muttered, lifting the older woman over his
shoulder. "I seriously hope you don't remember any of this when you wake
up, Tanya," he continued, needing to keep talking. "You'll probably be
sick." Finding a storage closet, Dive deposited his unconscious burden
inside. He then sealed the door and shorted out the lock. Tanya MIGHT be
able to burn her way out of there with her Omnitool, but she'd be stuck in
there for a good long time. Hopefully long enough for him to find a way to
return his companions to normal.

"Well, at least one question is answered," he muttered to himself,
starting for his quarters once again. "Dragaunus DEFINITELY is behind this.
But HOW?" Dive had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

* * *

Once back in his armor, Dive felt a lot better. Besides the
protection the
suit offered, it gave him a sort of psychological boost. He always felt a
little more capable dressed for damage. Now, as he crept along the
corridor, he thought about his next destination. He had to get to the Ready
Room, he decided. Once there, he could instruct the security system to
ignore his communicator signal. That way, even if the other ducks realized
he was in the building, they wouldn't be able to track him.

Plus, he could use Drake 1 to search for whatever was turning his
teammates against him. He wasn't sure it would work, but he needed to try.
The problem was, he didn't even know what he was looking for. That could
put a serious crimp in his plans.

The sounds of soft footsteps coming along the hall nearly sent
Nosedive
into a panic. Looking around, he searched for some avenue of escape, but
couldn't find what he needed. Then his gaze caught on an air exchange,
halfway up the wall. It would be a tight fit, but he didn't have a lot of
options right now.

With speed honed by years of skating and almost a year of battling
lizards, Dive was able to pop the cover off the vent and worm his way
inside. Last, he pulled the grate back on after him, getting it shut just
as three of his teammates rounded the corner. Dive stifled a low groan when
he saw that it was Wildwing in the lead. His older brother's eyes were as
black as those of any of the others.

"I looked everywhere for that brat," Wildwing was saying. "It's like
he
disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"Maybe Phil warned him," Duke offered. "You said he saw you
leaving."

Wildwing snorted. "Right. Phil couldn't figure out something like
this,
not even if you drew him a picture."

Mallory, the last member of the trio, suddenly looked up from her
com.
"Something else, Wildwing. We can't raise Tanya on her com. Her tracker
says she's in one of the closets, but she's not moving."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Wildwing whirled, eyes blazing. "He's
HERE,"
he whispered. "Somehow that bratty little brother of mine got back into the
building."

"But we would have seen him come in!" Duke protested. "All the doors
are
set to tell us whenever someone enters."

"I'm telling you, he's HERE. He must have ghosted the sensors. You
could
do that, couldn't you, Duke?"

Wary of the tone in Wildwing's voice, the ex-thief hesitated for a
moment,
then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well if you can do it, he can do it. We've got to find him before
he
makes more trouble. Start patrolling this place on foot. We HAVE to catch
him"

Mallory cocked her head. "And what do we do with him then?"

Wildwing's answer chilled Nosedive to the bone. "Then he either
joins us-
or he dies."

Dive held still until the three ducks had moved on, then let out a
deep
breath. The stakes had just gone up, big time. Maybe he'd just stay in the
ducts all the way to Drake 1. Yeah, that sounded like a VERY good idea.
Feeling rather like a sardine, Dive began to crawl through the vents,
hoping he remembered where he was going.

* * *

Halfway to Drake 1, Nosedive suddenly remembered exactly what was
bothering him about the conversation he'd seen in the hallway. Wildwing
STILL hadn't been wearing the Mask. Dive hadn't noticed, being too
preoccupied with hearing his friends discussing him as if he were some type
of insect. That didn't make ANY sense, however. Maybe, just maybe, Wildwing
would have removed the Mask to go look for Dive, to give the impression
that it was just a casual matter. But now that Dive was in the Pond, and
the Ducks were obviously on alert, why wouldn't Wildwing have the Mask on?
Its scanning abilities would be invaluable in hunting Dive down.

_Maybe- maybe whatever Dragaunus did to him makes him unable to wear
it,_
Dive theorized, still crawling through the vents. None of them really
understood how the Mask worked, not even Tanya, who had repaired it a few
times. All she ever did was copy the circuits she found inside. For the
first time, Dive wondered if maybe there was more to the Mask of Ducaine
than just super-science. After all, the Ancient Saurians were masters of
magic, not technology. Maybe Drake Ducaine had decided to fight fire with
fire.

_Or maybe the Mask just blocks out the transmission of the control
signal.
Whatever it is, the Mask HAS to be proof against whatever Dragaunus did.
That's the only reason Wildwing would EVER take it off, Dragaunus' control
or not._

With that in mind, Dive popped the vent cover and carefully moved
himself
into the Ready Room. No doubt about it, his first priority was to get the
Mask. Not only could it protect him from Dragaunus' control, the precious
artifact had to be kept from Dragaunus at all costs. _Not to mention it'll
come in REAL handy doing all this covert stuff._ Not for the first time
that day, Dive heartily wished that Duke was with him. The older duck had
taught Dive a number of things, but when it came to sneaking around, Duke
was still and would always be the master.

"No time to think of that now, Nosedive," he told himself. "First
things
first, make Drake 1 ignore you." After Dragaunus' first attack on the Pond,
Tanya had insisted that they all learn the security protocols, just in
case. Dive had done one better, learning the programs inside and out. He
had to admit that he got a definite rush out of hacking. And he had
remembered a trick that Wildwing and Klegghorn had used while infiltrating
the Pond. A hole blasted in the floor had shielded their biorhythms and
Wildwing's com signal, making Drake 1 think he had been eliminated. It
hadn't lasted long, but then, neither did the Saurians' attention spans.
After that little fiasco, Dive had buried a program in the mainframe, just
in case.

Calling it up now, he quickly instructed Drake 1 to ignore his
communicator and biorhythm signals. That would allow him to ghost through
the Pond pretty much undetected. And without Tanya, the odds of the other
ducks finding and disabling his program were practically nil.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Dive grimaced. He figured he
had
about ten minutes before his use of Drake 1 set off every alarm bell in the
place and brought the Ducks running to play the Funeral March for him.
Hopefully that would be enough time. Quickly, he keyed in a search command,
instructing the computer to find the Mask. With its unusual energy
readings, the Mask was easily traceable anywhere in the Pond.

Bingo! It was in the armory, which made sense, now that Nosedive
thought
about it. But was it guarded? He couldn't imagine Wildwing being that lax.
Quickly, he had Drake 1 bring up the positions of the other ducks, and
groaned. One guard, outside the armory door, and according to the signal,
it was Grin.

"Of course!" he muttered to himself. "Why is nothing ever easy?"

"Because that would take all the fun out of it, kid," Duke replied
flatly,
stepping into the Ready Room. He held a puck launcher in one hand, rather
than his usual saber. Mallory was only a few steps behind him. This was not
good.

Dive shifted slightly. "Boy, Duke, I can't tell which eye you lost
anymore," he replied lightly. "I guess your vision's going, what with your
advanced age and all."

Unusually, the crack about Duke's age failed to hit its mark.
Normally the
ex-thief was VERY defensive about being the oldest member of the team, but
now it was as if he hadn't even heard Nosedive's jibe.

Dive had been expecting this, though, and he dropped to ground,
rolling as
he returned fire. Taking cover behind one of the computer consoles, he
spotted another vent opening. Looked as if he was going back in the tin can
again. As he ripped the cover off the vent, Dive grinned slightly,
remembering a line from a movie he and Duke had watched the other night.
"Yippie-ki-yay," he grinned breathlessly. Then he took off down the vent,
leaving Duke and Mallory far behind.

* * *

Quietly, with the same stealth he used for late-night refrigerator
raids,
Dive popped the grate off the vent and lowered himself into the armory.
Around him lay a wealth of weaponry, from puck bazookas to ice shields.
This was where the majority of the weapons were stored, although most of
the Ducks kept a sidearm with them almost all of the time. Wildwing was
different, mainly because the gloves from his battle gear prevented him
from handling anything with a trigger guard. That was the reason Wildwing
had a launcher built into his right gauntlet.

Grabbing a bazooka, Dive considered it for a moment, then replaced
it. The
high-powered weapon would be next to useless in the small confines of the
Pond, and would no doubt blow apart anyone it hit. That wasn't the effect
he was going for. No, what he needed was ammo. Gas pucks, freeze pucks,
bola pucks, Nosedive slipped a few of each into the pockets built into his
uniform. Then he turned his attention to the thing that had brought him to
the armory in the first place- the Mask of Ducaine.

It sat on a shelf at about head-level, in its white, inert form.
Picking
it up, he regarded it somberly. He'd worn it once, and only once, during
the very short period when Wildwing had resigned as leader of the Mighty
Ducks. He knew how to work it- it wasn't really all that difficult. _Almost
as if it knows what you want,_ he thought, then pushed the idea away.

No, it wasn't lack of knowledge that made Dive reluctant to wear the
Mask.
The artifact was the symbol of leadership for the team, though, and by
wearing it, Dive felt as if he was somehow betraying his brother, giving up
on him. Taking the Mask was like admitting that Wildwing- HIS Wildwing-
wouldn't be coming back.

_That's bull,_ he told himself angrily. _I'm doing this to GET
Wildwing
back, nothing more. I'm not taking over as leader, I'm just- borrowing it
for a while._ Taking a deep breath, he picked the Mask up and settled it on
his face.

It didn't fit quite right- a little too big, like a boy wearing his
big
brother's clothes. _Which is pretty much the case,_ Dive thought wryly.
Funny how Wildwing was the only one who could REALLY fit the Mask. It had
been made centuries ago, specifically to fit Drake Ducaine's face. And only
Wildwing, whose beak was unusually long by Puckworld standards, really fit
the thing. It was almost as if- the Mask had been made for him, and him
alone.

Dive shook his head, pulling himself out of those thoughts. He had a
job
to do, and this wasn't getting it done. Taking a deep breath, he turned to
the door and activated the Mask.

The power of the scanners was such that looking through the metal
walls of
the armory was no problem. Outside the door, Dive could see the large shape
of Grin, still guarding the door. Chuckling to himself, Dive shook his
head. Not even Grin would be expecting an attack from behind.

Palming the door open, Dive wrapped his burly teammate in the
clutches of
a bola puck before the other duck could react. Designed by Tanya to contain
even the phenomenal strength of Siege, the bola would hold Grin quite well,
at least for long enough for Dive to pull off a rescue.

Dragging Grin back into the armory, Dive shut the door and quickly
shorted
out the lock. There. Without his consent, nothing short of a blowtorch
would be getting Grin out of there now.

Next order of business- find whatever was controlling his friends.
Dive
had learned more from Tanya over the past year than he was willing to
admit, and he knew that whatever he was looking for, it would have to be
putting out huge sources of energy. Relaxing, he activated the Mask once
again.

Immediately he saw a dark energy pulsing through the corridors.
Holding
onto his lunch with an effort, Dive traced the flow back to its source-
Tanya's lab.

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "That crystal! Dragaunus WANTED us to
have it!
He must have shot it up into the atmosphere with the Raptor's guns- it
wouldn't be all that hard to plot the trajectory... Dang it, and we fell
right for it!" He slammed his hand into the wall. Then, getting a hold of
himself, he headed down the hall. It was time to take care of things.

* * *

This apparently was not Nosedive's day. No sooner had he eased his
way out
of the elevator than he was struck from the side, sending him sprawling.
Craning his neck to see his assailant, Dive was only half-surprised to find
Wildwing staring down at him, black eyes gleaming with an insane fury.

"End of the line, little brother," Wildwing hissed. "You're out of
choices. Surrender or die."

Dive growled. "Option C, none of the above. You know, bro, there's
just
one thing I've got to say to you- get OFF- MY- BACK!" With those words, he
shoved upwards, unseating Wildwing long enough for Dive to break free.
Separated now, the two ducks circled cautiously in the hall, neither one
wanting to make the first move.

Dive shook his head. "Under the circumstances, I'm the only one
capable-
or worthy." He grinned suddenly, the most obnoxious smile he could dredge
up. "Of course, we always knew that. Why do you think you can't wear the
Mask anymore?" Dive felt sick at using his older brother's weakness against
him, but if that's what it took to get Wildwing back, he'd do it.

A sneer crossed Wing's face, but Dive could see that the barb had
hit
home. "You're pathetic, baby bro. You can't take me on, so you're hiding
behind that piece of junk."

"I'M pathetic?" Dive's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Get real! I'm
the
one with the Mask! I'm the one carrying on the tradition of Drake Ducaine!
You're the pathetic one, Wildwing. All you are now is just another one of
Dragaunus' pawns. Just like Lucretia DeCoy."

That was the last straw. Wildwing's temper finally broke, and he
threw
himself at his younger brother, locking his hands around Dive's throat. As
the two of them fell to the ground, Dive thought hysterically, _Now what?_

"I may be one of Dragaunus' pawns," Wildwing whispered, his voice
almost
demonic, "but at least I'm the one breathing."

Dive's vision was getting hazy, and he knew he wasn't going to be
able to
hold on much longer. _Funny,_ he thought irrelevantly. _I always figured
the last thing I'd ever see was the end of a Saurian blaster. Never thought
I'd be looking at Wildwing._ NO! He wasn't going to die like this! First of
all, it would absolutely RUIN his social life, and secondly, it would
destroy Wildwing- the real Wildwing- utterly. Dive could give up if it was
his life on the line, but not when it was his brother at stake. No way.

But how was he going to stop it? Wildwing's grip was like titanium,
and
there was no way Dive could break it. That meant he had to get Wing to let
go, and fast, before Dive passed out from oxygen loss. But how to break the
spell?

Suddenly Dive remembered the artifact he wore on his face, and the
thoughts that had been bothering him all night. All the old legends on
Puckworld about Saurian magic had one thing in common- it withered away at
the touch of the truth. The Saurian cloak of lies was vulnerable to that,
and that alone. _And that's what the Mask does,_ Dive realized, his
thoughts beginning to fuzz out. _It shows you the truth, whether you're
looking for Chameleon in disguise or the fastest way through a maze. The
Mask shows you the truth._

It was the only way, but he was only going to get one shot.
Releasing his
hands from where they were fruitlessly trying to loosen Wildwing's grip,
Dive reached up and pulled the Mask off his face. Then, before his brother
could react, he shoved it onto Wildwing's face, noticing again how easily
it fit. Then, with the last of his strength, he touched the contacts at the
temples, activating the Mask.

Wildwing let out a howl that was completely inhuman- and
un-ducklike, as a
matter of fact. Letting go of Dive's throat, he reared back and staggered
away, hands clutching at his temples. He made no move to remove the Mask,
however, seeming to be locked in battle with something Dive couldn't see.
Suddenly he stiffened, and a strange dark mist seemed to leave his body.
Then Wildwing collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Dive pulled himself painfully to his feet, taking a moment to blink
away
the spots that had insinuated themselves into his vision. Then he staggered
slowly, carefully, over to his fallen brother.

"Bro?" he croaked, half-afraid of the answer he might get."

"Dive?" Wildwing whispered, picking himself up. "Sweet heavens, what
have
I done?"

With a sob, Dive threw himself forward, locking his arms around his
brother as if he would never let go. Dragaunus' crystal was still around,
the other Ducks no doubt still wanted to kill him, and his throat felt
about the size of a drinking straw, but Wildwing was BACK, and all was
right with Dive's world again.

With an effort, Dive pulled away from his brother just long enough
to fix
him with a serious stare. "Don't you DARE apologize, bro," he said
fiercely. "What happened today was DRAGAUNUS, not you. I know you, Wing. I
know that you would never hurt me, never in a million years."

Wildwing started to argue, but cut himself off. The level of trust
that he
saw in his brother's eyes would brook no contradiction, and he wasn't
really up to the argument he knew would result if he tried to blame
himself. Finally, he nodded and smiled weakly.

"Pretty good thinking, baby bro," he remarked, loosening his grip on
his
brother slightly. "Figuring out that the Mask would undo the control."

"Yeah, well," Dive shrugged, "I AM a genius."

At that, Wildwing had to laugh. "You are that, Dive. You are
indeed."

* * *

"And the rest you know," Wildwing finished. He had removed the Mask
while
telling Dive about the crystal and what it had done to them, and now he was
turning it over in his hands.

"I've been thinking," he said suddenly. Dive rolled his eyes.

"Don't strain yourself." He ducked Wildwing's swat, grinning as he
did so.

Wing glared at his brother good-naturedly, but continued. "This
thing
seems to be the only protection we have against Dragaunus' control, so I
think you should wear it until we take out the crystal."

Dive shook his head violently. "Uh-uh, no way! That thing's yours!
I'm not
the one who knows how to use it! Besides, you're the leader."

"I'm also extremely unsteady on my feet," Wildwing pointed out. "I'm
not
injured, but I feel like I've been wrung out. If you get controlled by the
crystal, I'm history. I can't take on all four of you, especially in this
condition. You HAVE to wear it, because you have to be the one to stay
free."

After giving his brother a long look, Dive agreed. "But it doesn't
matter.
You and I are going to head down to Tanya's lab and take out that crystal,
and there is no chance on Earth OR Puckworld that Mallory and Duke are
gonna stop us."

"Mallory and Duke?" Wildwing raised an eyebrow. "Where's Grin?"

Dive chuckled. "He's meditating in the Armory right now. How do you
think
I got the Mask?"

Accepting his brother's offered hand, Wildwing got to his feet.
"Little
brother, you never cease to amaze me."

"I know," Nosedive grinned. "Aren't I great?"

* * *

Outside Tanya's lab, Nosedive gave his brother a concerned look.
Wildwing
had seemed less and less steady as they'd crept through the halls, his
concentration fading in and out occasionally. "You ready for this?" Dive
asked quietly.

Wildwing grinned wryly. "Do I have a choice?" He sounded somewhat
breathless, and almost unconsciously, Dive scanned his brother with the
Mask. What he saw caused him to suck in a quick breath. A cloud of dark
energy surrounded his brother, fighting to grab a hold of him. It had been
unsuccessful so far, but tendrils kept snaking out to try and latch on.

"The crystal is trying to regain control of you, isn't it?" Dive
asked.
Wing nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. I guess the Mask only- shocked me back to normal.
I've
still got the energy in my system. I'm fighting it off, though. It should
be okay."

"OKAY!" Dive barely remembered to keep his voice down. "Are you
NUTS? You
should be wearing the Mask! It's the only thing that can fight off the
crystal!"

In a lightning-fast move, Wildwing grabbed his brother's wrists
before
Dive could take off the Mask. "We've been over this, baby bro. You're the
one who can get the job done, so YOU wear the Mask."

"You do- whatever you have to, baby bro." Clapping Dive on the
shoulder,
he turned to the door. "Come on. Let's play some hockey."

Dive nodded. Puck launcher ready, he keyed open the door and
immediately
dropped to the ground, rolling inside. This move saved him from losing his
head to the puck barrage that was instantly fired at him. Coming up on one
knee beside one of Tanya's cabinets, Dive opened fire. All his attention on
Duke and Mallory, Nosedive was still peripherally aware of his brother
scuttling to his side.

Dive snorted. "Sure, stick me with the EASY job." Suddenly an idea
occurred to him. "Hey Wing," he said quietly. "Remember how Canard and I
used to get you to quit doing homework and go outside?"

"Yeah, you'd pounce on my from both sides and haul me out the door,"
Wildwing returned. "It was probably the only time you ever agreed on
anything." Then Wing saw where his brother was going, and chuckled. "I like
it. Let's go for it."

"Watch yourself, bro."

"You too."

The two split up, moving along the sides of the room in opposite
directions. Dive was attempting to draw Duke's fire, hoping to force the
older man into a hand-to-hand confrontation. Unfortunately, Dive seemed to
be running out of pucks faster. Suddenly a flask on a nearby table caught
his eye. Scooping it up, Dive hurled it at his opponent's gun hand, forcing
Duke to drop the puck launcher. Then, in a spectacular flying tackle, Dive
closed the distance between them.

Meanwhile, Wildwing and Mallory were circling each other cautiously.
Wildwing was at a definite disadvantage in this fight, for a number of
reasons. One, he didn't want to hurt Mallory, but she had no such
compunctions. Two, he didn't have HALF the training in hand-to-hand that
she did, and three, he was fighting off the crystal's mind control at the
same time. And that was getting harder and harder.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Mallory taunted. "The call of the
darkness.
Admit it, Wildwing, wasn't it a lot easier to serve Dragaunus? No more fear
or uncertainty, wondering if you've made the right decision. Wondering if
you're really the leader everyone seems to think you are. Why don't you
just give up? Surrender to the power."

Wildwing laughed breathlessly. "Dragaunus really thinks I'm that
much of a
coward? I don't know whether to be amused or insulted!" Suddenly his hands
flew to his head, and he let out an anguished cry.

For his part, Nosedive had just managed to send Duke into
Slumberland with
a well-placed punch. Hearing Wildwing's shout, Dive looked up to see his
brother's eyes flickering between black and their normal white. "Bro!" he
yelled, taking a step forward.

Mallory quickly stepped between them, but just as fast, Wildwing
surged
up, catching her in a neck lock from behind.

"The crystal!" Wildwing yelled. "Shoot it!"

"Are you crazy?" Dive asked. "That could turn you all into
vegetables!"

"It's better than living as Dragaunus' slaves," Wildwing replied,
struggling to retain both his hold on Mallory and his hold on sanity. "DO
IT!"

With a quick prayer to any and all deities that might be listening,
Dive
whirled and fired three quick shots at the crystal on the main worktable.
All three found their mark, and with a brilliant flash, the crystal
exploded into a hundred pieces.

When Dive's vision cleared, he found his teammates lying on the
floor
around him. Hurriedly, he made his way to Wildwing's side, holding his
breath. Did it work?

Wing's eyes slowly fluttered open, and Dive was relieved to see they
were
their normal color. "Man, I feel like I've been run over by the Migrator,"
Wildwing groaned, sitting up. "Several times."

"You're all right!" Dive yelled, throwing himself at his brother.
Latching
on, Wildwing returned the hug with interest.

"Yeah, Dive. Thanks to you."

* * *

Dive stretched out on the couch in the TV room, relaxing completely.
Things were finally back to normal at the Pond. The destruction of the
crystal had returned the Ducks to normal, with only mild headaches as a
result of their ordeal. Wildwing had cancelled practice for the afternoon,
so everyone could recover, and Phil had even agreed to hold off on the
publicity stunts for a day or two. No doubt about it, things were pretty
good.

"Get your feet of the couch," Wildwing instructed, entering the
room. Dive
stuck his tongue out at his brother, but did as instructed, swinging his
legs off the cushions.

"How do you have that much energy?" the older duck wanted to know.
"You
sneaked into the Pond, fought off FOUR of us, and basically spent the whole
morning running. How come WE'RE the ones who are exhausted?"

"Old age?" Dive threw out, grinning wickedly. "And you forgot to add
in
near-strangulation." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dive
wanted to kick himself. That was a really stupid thing for him to bring up.

Wildwing nodded, turning away. "Right. I forgot about that."

With an exasperated sigh, Nosedive came up behind his brother and
turned
him around so that the two of them were face to face. "Listen to me, bro.
What happened today was Dragaunus' fault, not yours. You gotta let it go,
man."

"I couldn't stop myself," Wildwing whispered. "I had my hands locked
around your throat, and I was telling myself to let go, practically
screaming it, but I couldn't. If you hadn't figured out that the Mask could
break the spell, I would have-"

"It's over," Dive cut him off. "And what you would have done doesn't
matter. You didn't do it, man, and you didn't WANT to do it. What counts is
that it's all over, and we all made it through all right."

Wildwing let out a long breath. "You're right, Dive," he agreed.
"Thanks."
Then, reaching out, he pulled his little brother close for another hug.

"You haven't hugged me this much since I was six and got lost in the
mountains," Dive remarked, his voice muffled.

"I haven't had this bad a scare since then, either," replied
Wildwing.

Suddenly a voice from the door caused them to pull away from each
other.
"Awww," Duke teased, a wide grin on his face. "It's a Kodak moment."

Dive and Wildwing regarded each other for a long moment, then in
unison
picked up a pair of pillows from the couch and began advancing on their
teammate. Duke began backing out the door, still grinning.